Peace For Pragmatists: The Functional Medicine “Three Buckets” That Keep You Centered

When Karen Lee Cohen was lifted onto a gurney, she remembers thinking, “I didn’t think it was my time, but I was okay if it was.”

That is not a polished “wellness” moment. That is a human moment.

And it’s why Let’s Be Peace: 20 Unique Paths to Healing Yourself and Spreading Peace in the World doesn’t read like a lecture. It reads like someone sitting beside you, saying: You can face hard things. You can get support. And you can still come home to yourself.

Karen calls it our inner “GPS system (intuition).” She says we’re “built” with it. And even if you don’t believe in angels or spirit guides, she asks you to believe in you.

Not as a slogan. As a practice.

What are the “three buckets,” and why do they matter?

Near the end of Let’s Be Peace, functional medicine practitioner Amanda Hinman explains something that’s both simple and oddly comforting.

Yes, labs matter. Supplements can help. But many people get results for a while—then circle back to the same symptoms and stress because the deeper “core” never changed. Amanda says if we don’t have support for “the lifestyle changes,” “behavior changes,” and tools that calm the nervous system, “these two steps will most likely not be enough to create a suitable and sustainable transformation.”

Then she names what gets left out: “the mental-emotional as well as the spiritual.”

That’s the lens I keep using now—a practical “three buckets” check-in:

• Physical (your body, your labs, your routine)
• Mental-emotional (your thoughts, words, emotions, patterns)
• Spiritual (quiet time, guidance, meaning, connection)

Not as a rigid system. As a way to stop treating yourself like a mystery you’ll never solve.

Bucket 1: Physical health that includes real-world support

Karen is clear: this isn’t a book telling you to ignore doctors. She writes, “We are not suggesting you forego seeking medical attention and health consultation.” She shares that she sees a holistic medical doctor for yearly physicals and blood tests, and she calls him “one of my teammates.”

That word—teammate—matters.

Because a lot of us were taught that health is something someone else “fixes.” Or we swing the other way and try to do everything alone. Karen’s approach is steadier: consult practitioners, stay involved. Make choices. Listen inward. Build a team.

A quick physical check-in (Amanda angle)

Ask yourself:

• Have I looked at the clinical side (like blood tests or lab work) with a trusted professional?
• Do I have real support for the daily part—home routines and lifestyle changes?
• Am I doing a “round” of recommendations… but keeping the same behaviors underneath?

Amanda’s straight question is worth borrowing: “How much support do you have in terms of implementing and executing new changes in your life?”

If your answer is “not much,” don’t shame yourself. Just tell the truth. That truth is the starting point.

Bucket 2: Daily emotional awareness (without pretending you’re fine)

One of the quiet truths inside Let’s Be Peace is that “being peace” isn’t only spiritual. It’s practical. It shows up in your thoughts and choices on an ordinary day.

Dorothy Lee Donahue puts it plainly: “Peace begins with our thoughts, words, and also actions.” She also says, “To be at peace, we must step out of victimhood and into self-mastery.”

That can sound intense—until you feel what she means.

Self-mastery isn’t perfection. It’s the moment you notice, “I’m spiraling,” and you choose one small thing that brings you back.

Brenda Michaels offers a simple practice that does exactly that. She writes that one of her best practices is to “breathe peace into my body each morning and night before retiring, and breathe out what is not peace … i.e. judgment, anger, bitterness, resentment, etc.” She adds, “By simply holding the word peace in your mind while drawing in a breath… you are now intentionally breathing in peace.”

Simple doesn’t mean small.

A mental-emotional “truth test” you can use today

Ask:

• Am I fighting “what is” right now, or can I work with the present moment?
• What am I repeating in my mind—words that bring calm, or words that tighten my chest?
• Have I made space for gratitude in a real way?

Brigitte Rawlings calls gratitude “a gateway” that can shift us into peace. She suggests writing it down—what you’re grateful for, and why. Not to force happiness. To remember what’s already holding you up.

Bucket 3: Spiritual alignment that still fits a busy life

Karen shares that she calls on her angels and spirit guides “pretty much on a daily basis.” But she also makes room for every reader: “You do not need to believe in the angels and guides,” she writes, “but I do encourage you to learn to believe in yourself.”

If you don’t know where to start, Susan Kennard offers a grounded place: the heart. She suggests breathing into the heart and asking: “What do I need to know about this pain… this dis-ease… these headaches… my weight?” She calls it “soul inquiry.”

And Kumari Mullin brings it back to the present moment. She teaches that many of us bounce between past and future. Her first step is to call your energy back into “right here, right now,” and breathe until you don’t just think it—you feel it.

A spiritual check-in that doesn’t require a perfect routine

Ask:

• Have I given myself any quiet time—meditation, yoga, or even a few minutes of silence?
• Have I asked for guidance, inside or beyond myself?
• Have I come back to the present, even once today?

Sometimes spiritual alignment is a mountain. Sometimes it’s a breath before you answer an email.

The hidden gem most readers miss: choose a “barometer,” not a perfect plan

Near the end of Let’s Be Peace, Karen says there is “No strict formula.” Instead, she suggests you build a way of checking in with yourself and making adjustments. She even recommends setting “some kind of barometer” to review what’s working—maybe once a month, maybe once a quarter.

This is the kind of wisdom that doesn’t shout. It steadies you.

Because it means peace isn’t a finish line. It’s a relationship with your own inner guidance—one you return to, again and again.

So try this today: pick one bucket—physical, mental-emotional, or spiritual—and do one small thing that supports it. Then ask yourself, honestly, what changed inside you.

If you really do have that inner GPS, what might happen if you followed it before you followed fear?